Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a display device and more specifically to a display device that minimizes glittering caused by a camera and reduces the overall thickness of the display device.
Description of the Related Art
As information technology has developed, display devices that represent information contained in electrical signals in the form of visual images are in widespread use. In accordance with this, research is ongoing into various display panels that can be implemented in devices which are thinner, lighter and consume less power. Exemplary display devices include plasma display panels (PDP), field emission displays (FED), organic light-emitting displays (OLED), liquid crystal displays (LCD), and the like.
In particular, as displays are recently employed by a variety of mobile terminals such as laptop computers, smart phones and tablet PCs, it is also important to develop display devices with product designs that are more appealing to users, in addition to providing enhanced performance.
In addition, display devices with a camera embedded in the front and/or rear surface for video chatting or video conferencing have been released. In the existing display devices, a camera is disposed in a separate component such as a cover or housing surrounding the display screen. This results in the increased bezel width of display devices, and the level difference (i.e., step or unevenness) between the display screen and the cover is created. Accordingly, this hinders various innovative designs that could be implemented for display devices.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned problems, i.e., to reduce the width of the bezel and to eliminate the level difference, it has been proposed to dispose a camera under the panel of a display device. An example of a display device with a camera disposed under the panel will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B.
FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a laptop computer employing an existing display device according to a related art. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A′ shown in FIG. 1A. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a display device 100 includes an upper substrate 110, a lower substrate 130, and a display element 120 between the upper and lower substrates 110 and 130. A camera 140 is disposed under the lower substrate 130.
The display device 100 includes a display area DA where an image is displayed, and a non-display area NDA surrounding the display area DA, where no image is displayed. The display element 120 that emits light is disposed between the upper substrate 110 and the lower substrate 130 in the display area DA. In the non-display area NDA, a black matrix 160 is disposed between the upper substrate 110 and the lower substrate 130. The black matrix 160 is disposed in the non-display area NDA along the edge of the display area DA. Apart of the non-display area NDA above the camera 140 is defined as a transparent area TA. The black matrix 160 is not disposed in the transparent area TA such that the camera 140 is not obstructed. In the transparent area TA, an additional adhesive layer 150 is disposed between the upper substrate 110 and the lower substrate 130. The upper substrate 110, the lower substrate 130, the display element 120 and the camera 140 are fixed to a plurality of frames 170 including a lower frame 171 and a side frame 172.
As shown in FIG. 1B, the camera 140 is fixed to the frames 170 and is disposed below the lower substrate 130 in the non-display area NDA. Since the camera 140, which has a relatively large size, is disposed below the lower substrate 130, the overall thickness of the display device 100 increases. In addition, the present inventors have realized that light coming through the transparent area TA can be reflected off certain components related to the camera 140, such as its protective cover, its lens or other optical elements, the hole or opening of the camera, etc. and thus the user may perceive glittering (or similar effects) at particular view angles and/or other optical related disadvantages may occur.